Thank you for such an interesting reply Arthur. The Empress' collection must have been amazing.
--Previous Message-- : The emerald and pearl bracelet was not part of : the French Crown Jewels. There were, in the : Crown Jewels' collection, emerald and : diamond jewels on the one hand, pearl jewels : and pearl and diamond jewels on the other : hand, but no jewel mixing both emeralds and : pearls. So this bracelet was certainly a : private jewel belonging to Empress Eugénie. : : Eugénie was especially fond of emeralds (she : loved all precious stones, actually... but : emeralds even more ). The Empress was : litterally showered with jewels by her : husband, but also by family members and by : civic bodies on the occasion of official : visits; she also regularly made personal : acquisitions at the numerous Parisian : jewellers. For instance, in his book about : the French Crown Jewels, Bernard Morel : mentions that he found in the National : Archives that Napoleon III had paid through : the imperial Privy Purse not less than 6.94 : million francs of the time in jewels just : for the first semester of 1853, 5.6 million : francs in 1855 and 5.4 million francs in : 1856! Maybe that not all of these jewels : were for Eugénie (some of them could be : official gifts for court ladies and : officials' wives), but anyway, Empress : Eugénie's had very probably plenty and : plenty of jewels in her jewel casket! : : In the chapter of his book dedicated to : Empress Eugénie's personal jewels, Morel : mentions several emerald and pearl jewels, : which are unfortunately not described (as : they were not comprehensively drawn or : photographed, contrary to the Crown Jewels): : - among her wedding gifts, was " a : parure of emeralds and fine pearls " : - in June 1872, the then deposed and exiled : Empress sold at auction at Christie, Manson : and Wood Ltd in London several jewels, : including " (...) 50. A beautiful : pendant, the centre made of a fine emerald : framed with a border of brilliants, with a : pendant made of an emerald and of a fine : pear-shaped pearl (...) 55. A beautiful : pendant, with a large square emerald framed : with brilliants, with a very big pear-shaped : pearl (...) 74. An elegant tiara, made of a : band of brilliants, the centre made of : beautiful brilliants and emeralds, topped by : a large oval emerald with brilliant and : pear-shaped pearl branches (...) ". But : none of these jewels corresponds to the : bracelet with a large emerald clasp depicted : on Eugénie's portrait by Dubufe. : :
on March 17, 2015, 5:51 pm, in reply to "